The SABR Bookshelf: Winter 2012
Here are The SABR Bookshelf listings for Winter 2012. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: SABR, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018.
To ensure a listing in The Baseball Index — SABR’s online catalog of baseball research materials at www.baseballindex.org — make sure a review copy is sent to The Baseball Index, 4025 Beechwood Pl., Riverside, CA 92506.
These books can be purchased at the SABR Bookstore, powered by Amazon.com.
Bolded names indicates that the author(s) is a SABR member. Publishers’ contact information can be found by clicking here.
Before the Curse: The Chicago Cubs’ Glory Years
By Randy Roberts & Carson Cunningham
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| University of Illinois Press | $21.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-252-07816-3 |
- Summary: A thorough history about baseball’s now-lovable losers when they were a National League powerhouse from 1870-1945. Roberts and Cunningham utilize vintage newspaper accounts and historical essays to document the Chicago Cubs’ history.
Trading Manny: How A Father & Son Learned To Love Baseball Again
By Jim Gullo
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Da Capo Press | $23.00 (sftcvr) | 978-0-306-82017-5 |
- Summary: A two-season journey between a father and his 7-year-old son, who became a baseball fan just as the steroids scandal went public in December 2007.
Summer of ’68: The Season that Changed Baseball — and America — Forever
By Tim Wendel
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Da Capo Press | $25.00 (hrdcvr) | 978-0-306-82018-2 |
- Summary: An account of the 1968 season that was dominated by pitchers such as Don Drysdale, Denny Mclain, Luis Tiant and Bob Gibson. This season was also shaped by the cultural happenings in the United States, including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
1924 and You Are There!
By Jeff Polman
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Self-published | $15.00 (sftcvr) | 978-0-615573403 |
- Summary: A fictional novel about 17-year-old Vinny Spanelli’s 1924 season as a diehard Phillies fan. The book acts as the teen’s journal through his adventures at the old Baker Bowl and beyond.
The School With All The Catchers: A History of the Crawford High School Baseball Program
By Joe Naiman
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Infinity Publishing | $19.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7414-6850-5 |
- Summary: The author details the history of a San Diego high school that has sent seven players to Major League Baseball.
The South Bend Blue Sox: A History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Team and Its Players, 1943-1954
By Jim Sargent and Robert M. Gorman
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $39.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-4647-6 |
- Summary: The South Bend Blue Sox were one of two teams that spanned the entire history of the AAGPBL and this book tells the story of the league through the lends of the Blue Sox organization and players.
Long Taters: A Baseball Biography of George “Boomer” Scott
By Ron Anderson
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $29.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-4976-7 |
- Summary: African American first baseman George “Boomer” Scott debuted as a Boston Red Sox in 1966. He stroked 271 “taters,” or home runs as he called them, but this wasn’t his only achievement. The book takes a look at the life of Scott from his violent youth in Mississippi all the way through his professional career.
Eliot Asinof and the Truth of the Game: A Critical Study of the Baseball Writings
By William Farina
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $55 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6302-2 |
- Summary: Farina’s book focuses solely on Asinof’s baseball writing – the groundbreaking Black Sox Scandal history “Eight Men Out” , four novels and scattered short pieces.
A Member of the Local Nine: Baseball and Identity in the Fiction of W.P. Kinsella
By William Steele
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $55 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6317-6 |
- Summary: A look at Kinsella’s baseball fiction, from Shoeless Joe through the short stories, through the prisms of race, gender, class, religion, sexuality and post-colonialism.
The Battling Bucs of 1925: How the Pittsburgh Pirates Pulled Off the Greatest Comeback in World Series History
By Ronald T. Waldo
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $40 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6459-3 |
- Summary: The 1925 Pirates outpaced the New York Giants for the pennant and then had to come back from a 2-game deficit to defeat the Washington Senators in the World Series.
Red Sox Roll Call: 200 Memorable Players, 1901-2011
By William F. McNeil
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $45 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6471-5 |
- Summary: The 200 players are presented in profiles roughly 500 words long and in alphabetical order, from Harry Agganis to Al Zarilla.
The Mental Road to the Major Leagues: A Guide for Rising Ballplayers
By Kelly J. Pfaff and Peder N. Piering
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $29.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6563-7 |
- Summary: Based on interviews and experience, the book offers advice to young ballplayers on how to meet the mental challenges of the game, both on and off the field.
The Barnstorming Hawaiian Travelers: A Multiethnic Baseball Team Tours the Mainland, 1912-1916
By Joel S. Franks
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $29.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6566-8 |
- Summary: A group of multiethnic and multiracial Hawaiians toured the U.S. in the deadball era taking on all comers, succeeding at baseball and trying to change racial stereotypes.
Baseball’s War Roster: A Biographical Dictionary of Major and Negro League Players Who Served, 1861 to the Present
By Brett Kiser
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $55 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6679-5 |
- Summary: This book provides brief biographical essays on the hundreds of Major League and Negro Leagues who served in the military, from the Civil War to Vietnam. Each war has a section, but there is an index which makes any player easy to find.
Center Field Grasses: Poems from Baseball
By Gene Fehler
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| McFarland & Co. | $19.99 (sftcvr) | 978-0-7864-6705-1 |
- Summary: A reissue of Fehler’s book, first published over 20 years ago.
Tiger Stadium, Comerica Park: History & Memories
By Irwin J. Cohen
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Boreal Press | $19.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-9677570-4-9 |
- Summary: A personal history of two ballparks, complete with candid photographs taken by the author, a lifelong Detroiter known as “Mr. Baseball.”
Baseball Between Us: A Road Map to a Winning Father/Son Relationship
By Mike Luery
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| BaseballBetweenUs.com | $17.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-9832744-0-7 |
- Summary: This is the story of SABR member Mike Luery and his son Matt, who embrace baseball as their road map to figure out the lessons of life. Their attempt to visit every Major League stadium encompasses 16 years, 32 ballparks and 43,000 miles together.
Travels with Ghosts and Other Tales
By Joe Scherrman & Suzanne Wright, eds.
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| DreamCatcher Productions | $29.95 (sftcvr) | 978-0-9840878-0-8 |
- Summary: Book and documentary DVD chronicles a team of Iowa players who put together a show based on the Field of Dreams stadium and story and toured the world with it.
The Wonder Team in the White City: U.V.M. At the Intercollegiate Base Ball Tournament of 1893
By Tom Simon
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Gardner-Waterman Press | $15.00 (sftcvr) | 978-1-45384-731-2 |
- Summary: The University of Vermont once fielded a varsity baseball team as competitive as any in the country. It reached its apex when it participated in a tournament at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Jack and Larry, the Cleveland Baseball Dog
By Barbara Gregorich
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| CreateSpace | $12.00 (sftcvr) | 978-1-46795-801-1 |
- Summary: A free verse poetic tale about the relationship between former Cleveland Indians star Jack Graney; his dog, Larry; and their relationship through baseball.
Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography
By Stuart Shea
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Potomac Books | $17.95 (sftcvr) | 978-1-57488-941-3 |
- Summary: A chronicled history of one of baseball’s most storied stadiums (including its fans, city and community), dating back from the earliest days of its construction to present day.
The Last Icon: Tom Seaver and His Times
By Steven Travers
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Trade Publishing | $24.95 (hrdcvr) | 978-1-58979-660-7 |
- Summary: When Tom Seaver joined the majors in the mid-1960s, New York City was hurting politically, athletically and socially. This book details “Tom Terrific’s” rise to the top of New York’s sports landscape.
Best Mets: Fifty Years of Highs and Lows from New York’s Most Agonizingly Amazin’ Team
By Matthew Silverman
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Trade Publishing | $16.95 (sftcvr) | 978-1-58979-670-6 |
- Summary: The New York Mets celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2012 and this book recounts the best and worst players, teams, wins and losses. Includes a guide to for readers to learn how to appreciate the Mets and the best sports bars to catch the game.
Willy’s Ballgame
By Dennis N. Ricci
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Bedside Books | $18.00 (sftcvr) | 978-1-58982-833-9 |
- Summary: A fiction tale of the first female player in the major leagues. Throwing a 90 mph fastball isn’t the only climax to this story, as Willy Mae Beal takes on the game with talent, wit and a love for the game.
Hot Hand: The Statistics Behind Sports’ Greatest Streaks
By Alan Reifman
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Potomac Books | $24.95 (hrdcvr) | 978-1-59797-713-5 |
- Summary: Focusing on streaks as famous as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and as obscure as the University of Dayton’s bad night of 3-point shooting, the author examines the psychological and physiological mechanisms behind “streaky” sports performances.
Celebrating Ourselves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball
By Daryl Russell Grigsby
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Dog Ear Publishing | $25.00 (sftcvr) | 978-1-60844-798-5 |
- Summary: A story detailing the influence of baseball on African-American life from the perspectives of players, fans and families. The book goes beyond battles won on the field and into those won in socital and political landscapes. Be ready for lots of stats!
3 Tales From the Grand Old Game
By Austin Gisriel
| Publisher | Retail Price | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Self-published | $0.99 (e-book) | N/A |
- Summary: A trio of short stories: “I Love It Here in Indiana!”, about the baseball bond between four friends; “Spot On”, about a young player who inexplicably loses the ability to throw accurately; and “A Baseball Fan’s Fairy Tale”, about a long-suffering Baltimore Orioles fan. Available for purchase at the Kindle Store, Smashwords or other online e-book retailers.
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